Stanford has lost their second head coach of the summer today, as women's head coach Lea Maurer has resigned her position at the helm of her alma mater to “spend more time with her family”.
“There is not a day that goes by that my connection to Stanford does not have an impact on my life. The Stanford community is a special place bound together by a group of people pursuing dreams in so many areas. I will always be a part of that community and am honored to share the connection with the women I've brought in, my teammates when I swam here, my husband, Erik, who I met here and so many others that are a part of my Stanford family.” said Maurer of the decision.
Maurer's husband Erik has been a volunteer assistant with the program since she took over the program 7 years ago; together they have led the Cardinal to 7-straight top-5 finishes at NCAA's. Erik is a principal at a venture capital and private equity firm in the San Francisco area.
The Cardinal finished 4th at last year's NCAA Championships, and were within 100 points of rivals Cal, who won the title.
The Stanford women didn't have a great Olympic Trials meet, though they weren't bad either. Their best shot at the Olympic Team was Elaine Breeden, who looked very good through two rounds of the 100 fly but couldn't put things together in the final. They failed to put a swimmer on the Olympic Team for the first time since 1952.
Sources tell us that this was a total surprise to most around the program, this was a totally unexpected move headed into Olympic Trials, and that the athletes were only informed of the decision today.
This now leaves two major openings in the college scene, as Jim Richardson has still not been replaced at the University of Michigan.